Defender of Humanity
by rdc30
Summary: Operative Alexandra swore to defend and uphold the ideals of the Umojan Protectorate when she joined the Shadowguards. When a freak accident sends her into an strange new universe, will she hold true to her oath or will she abandon everything to live a life of peace that was denied to her?
1. Chapter 1

How had it come to this?

Alexandra ran across the lush grasslands of the Protoss home world as it slowly died around her. She could barely hear the sound of the aliens chasing after her above the deafening sound of her own thumping heartbeat. She clutched her canister rifle with both hands and held onto it for dear life. She could hear the growls and hisses of the monsters closing in on her. Their presence was like a vile worm at the back of her mind that threatened to overwhelm her.

How had it come to this?

She refused to be taken by them. She refused to become like _her_. Throwing a glance behind her, she saw that a literal swarm of the smaller creatures were barrowing down on her. There was no way she would be able to outrun them. She desperately checked her suit statues again and screamed in rage and helplessness as it showed the moebius reactor still offline.

Why was she even running? What was the point? There was no escape for her.

How had it come to this?

She could see an abandoned bunker in front of her. The trenches that surrounded the fortifications were all empty. This must have been one of the outer defensive perimeters protecting the Warp Gate. She shuddered to think what fate befell the soldiers assigned to this position. Glancing behind her, she scowled as she saw that the aliens were less than ten meters from her position and closing fast. They'll on her in seconds.

Summoning all her remaining strength, Alexandra put on one last burst of speed and ran toward the bunker. As she approached the structure, a voice in the back of her mind nagged at her resolve.

What was the point? Those monsters will rip the steel walls apart in minutes. They'll drag her out of the hole she boxed herself into and then turn her into a monster. She had seen how easily the monsters ripped through armor. She only had half a clip left in her canister rifle. What could she possibly do?

Pushing the thoughts of the future aside for a chance to live for another second longer, Alexandra ran inside bunker and sealed the door seconds before the alien vanguard caught up to her. Panting hard, she slowly backed away from the blast-door as the aliens began the process of tearing her shelter apart.

Groaning in despair, she collapsed against the wall of the blood stained bunker and slowly slid to the floor. The inside of the building was filled with dismembered limbs and blood. Several guass rifles hung from a nearby weapons locker along with several boxes of ammunition.

She made no move to reach the weapons.

What was the point? Would she go out in a blaze of glory and take a dozen of the aliens with her? For what? This planet was still going to fall. The Protoss were as good as dead. How many of them had Alexandra's team saved at the cost of their own lives? A hundred? A thousand?

The Zerg numbered in the trillions. She could shoot off every round in this bunker and still not make a scratch in their numbers.

Sighing, she realized there was really only one thing left to do.

Dropping her canister rifle to the ground and taking off her helmet, she reached for her sidearm. The compact pistol was a good weapon for an infiltrator like her. Silent and deadly. Magnetic acceleration of a caseless hollow-point round. Not that good for taking out marines, but great for officers and leaders in suits and uniforms.

She had one shot left.

She chuckled lightly as she toyed with the weapon. This was not how she always imagined she would die. She always thought she'd either to be tortured to death or killed during a mission. There was no such thing as retirement in her line of work and she had accepted that a decade ago.

She could hear the monsters ripping the steel armor of the building apart like wet paper. They would probably be through in less than ten seconds. Her moebius reactor was still off-line and it was going to stay that way bar some kind of miracle. Even then, it would not have enough energy to power her cloaking field for more than a second.

Not that sneaking away was an option anyway. She could already sense the vile presence of the alien's disgusting balloon-like masters hanging outside.

How had it come to this?


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Alex in this fic will be using the spectre gear as seen in SC2 since Tosh and his crazed goons are funded and supplied by the Umojans.

All along the final defensive perimeter surrounding the Protoss city of Antioch, humans and their new allies prepared for the oncoming Zerg onslaught. The once glorious Protoss fleet had been devastated and their greatest warriors slaughtered. Their leadership caste had been destroyed in a costly civil war and their gleaming cities ravaged by the marauding Zerg. This settlement was the last remaining bastion on Aiur. All other provinces had already fallen to either the Overmind or the subsequent rampaging broods after its death.

Alexandra sat in her trench with her rifle cradled across her lap. It was unlikely they would be able to repel the next assault. The last attack had seen the Zerg fliers fill the sky like a swarm of enraged wasps and knock out all the allied artillery support after overwhelming the western anti-air emplacements in a seemingly unstoppable tide of chitin and claws. Only the psionic lightning storms of the Protoss, augmented with the energy of their few remaining Khayadrin crystals, managed to draw off the swarm, for the time being.

She did not need to look across the blasted kill zone to see that the beasts were preparing for their largest attack yet. At first, the Zerg had launched uncoordinated and unrelenting assaults all along their defensive line in an uncoordinated mass of bodies, but the last few waves had been different. They were being led by something now. The smaller creatures, Zerglings, would make frequent probing attacks at various points along the perimeter under cover from obscuring clouds of noxious gases. It seemed like at least one of the giant slug brains that led the Zerg had survived the destruction of its leader. It was strange and troubling but hardly mattered now.

The last orbital scans had shown the Zerg setting up a network of organic tunnels across the entire continent to allow more units to mass up for the next wave. The Hyperion had attempted a nuclear strike on the Zerg hive clusters but she had been forced to retreat when the Zerg fliers had regrouped and launched a counter attack. Now they were completely on their own, without air superiority or heavy armor support. The only things that held the line together was the firepower of the Terran and Protoss walkers towering above their fleshy compatriots.

Sighing in exhaustion, Alex checked her ammunition in preparation for the impending attack. She had five shots left in her AGR-14B Guass Carbine. Cursing silently under her breath, she quickly swapped it out for fresh one but tucked the rounds from the almost exhausted magazine into her bag. She was probably going to need every last one of them. Her bag now only held another two full magazines, even after the final supply drop. Now, the dropships could not even fly over the settlement because the Zerg had set up heavy spore cannons all across the valley.

It was depressing to know that they had given it their all only to still fail. She was starting to question whether or not coming here was a good idea. The Commander was a good man but he let his emotions hold too much sway over his actions. The disastrous attack on Char to rescue his girlfriend was clear evidence of that. She probably should have cut ties with the man as soon as Mengsk revealed his true colors and returned to the Protectorate.

She did not know why she did not do just that. She tried to tell herself it was so that she would not fall into Mengsk's slimy claws when he inevitably dismantled the Shadowguards, but a small portion of her mind knew it was a lie. Maybe it was simply the fact that Raynor possessed a simple charm that appealed to the disheartened deserters of the former Sons of Korhal. The initial success they had in escaping Tarsonis and raiding the Dylarian Shipyard had given them all a sense of hope.

So, in a way, she was probably going to die because of some kind of foolish sentiment.

~Do not give in to despair, young one. There is yet hope.~

Alex snapped open her eyes and realized that she had somehow dozed off in the face of an imminent attack. With a resigned sigh, she realized that she had been defending this position non-stop for the past three days. Her hostile environment suit was splattered with blood, from whom or what she did not know, and she had foolishly removed her helmet in a war zone to feel the air on her face. Silently reprimanding herself, she quickly shook her head to clear the mist surrounding it and replaced her discarded mask but was momentarily hit with a massive headache that took her by surprise.

Grimacing in pain, she fought to suppress her psionic powers as the source of her discomfort became clear.

A Protoss Templar stood above her with an air of grace and nobility that incited a feeling of awe in Alex's mind. His golden armor and flowing blue cloak seemed to glow with majestic power. His golden eyes stared down at her and his voice washed over her mind like a calm river.

~Prepare yourself, friend. The Zerg will attack any moment now.~

* * *

"Hold the line, you worthless dogs! Hold the li- AAARRGH!"

Sighting the hulking monstrosity slithering toward the defense line, Alex lightly depressed the trigger of her rifle and sent a controlled burst of high velocity spikes into the skull of the approaching Hydralisk. The armor piercing rounds ripped through the Zerg's hardened carapace and left its head as little more than a messy stain. Alex immediately switched targets but her fire seemed to have no effect on the approaching horde of alien monsters. As the creature she just killed fell forward, it was immediately trampled underneath another two creatures just like it. A seemingly never ending flood of the beasts rapidly crossed the desolate no-man's land, across spider mines and barbed wire without slowing.

"Medic!" Alex yelled down the line as she emptied the rest of her magazine into a pack of Zerglings before slinging the empty weapon magnetically unto her back and running over to the injured marine sergeant. The gruff soldier had collapsed against the side of the trench and was nursing his right arm. Alex scowled as she crouched down next to the slouched marine and activated his suit's medical interface. The man's arm had been impaled by no less than three toxic armor-piercing spines, and poison was already entering his bloodstream.

"Hang on, Baxter," Alex half shouted into his ear to be heard over the thundering cacophony of weapons fire all around them. As her suit interfaced with the power armor, a quick glance at her wrist display confirmed her fears. The toxin was eating away at the man's flesh and his arm would have to be amputated as soon as possible before it spread any further.

"Urgh…I've had worse scraps with my grandma," the man grumbled through clenched tooth as his remaining hand reached, shakily, into his belt and retrieved a battered looking cigar. "Could you light this for me, kid?"

Smiling down at the man, Alex took the object and jabbed into the exhaust vent of the marine's combat suit before handing it back to him. Looking at him sadly, she indicted his mangled arm.

"Better bite on down on that," Alex called as she pointed at the cigar before placing her hand on a panel embedded in the man's armor. "This is going to hurt a little."

"I've had worse," the man repeated with a nod for Alex to proceed. The telepath could not help but smile at the sheer willpower of the man in front of her. She could sense pain that would break the minds of lesser men coursing through his mind but one would never tell by looking at his face. Even now, when his life hung by a thread, the only thoughts in his mind were of the well-being of his men and memories of his family.

In that instant, Alex immediately knew why she was here and realized that she regretted absolutely nothing. These people were good men that deserved her aid and she was honored to fight alongside such men for the good of the galaxy.

With a sigh, the Shadowguard opened the panel and pulled the latch hidden inside. Immediately, a series of hisses and vapor emerged from the arm section of the powered armor, followed shortly by a sickening sound of tearing flesh. The stubborn sergeant merely grunted slightly as his arm detached from his body and the suit automatically sealed the wound.

"Where's the damn medic!" Alex screamed down the trench, but got no reply as the marine she had been attending to slowly slipped into unconsciousness through a combination of drugs and shock. Scowling in anger, Alex keyed her com-link.

"This is Lieutenant A6-010, what's the status of the Northern defenses? My sector is about to be overrun and we have an injured marine here in need of immediate evac."

"Red Two here," a voice cracked in her helmet receiver as Alex reloaded her weapon with her last full magazine. After a short pause, the voice continued. "We're down to just three guys here. The Doc got fragged by one of them acid bombs a minute ago and we're all running low on ammo. The Goliath's just a heap of scrap metal now and the sergeant ain't responding."

Cursing silently, Alex lifted her head slowly over the top of trench and her eyes widened in shock as a cold chill crawled down her spine. The valley floor was covered as far as the eye can see in a tide of Zerg creatures while flocks of fliers circled overhead. Massive towering silhouettes covered the horizon and shook the very ground with their lumbering footsteps. Numbly keying her com-link, Alex watched in horror as the stoppable tide of Zerg advanced closer and closer.

Every damn Zerg on the planet must be converging on this location.

"Command, the Northern sector is under heavy assault, we won't be able to hold out for more than another few minutes until we're overrun."

Shouldering her weapon with a deep breath to steel her nerves, Alex popped back out of cover and immediately assessed the situation. The few remaining men holding this section of the line were spraying their weapons on full automatic but they may as well have been throwing rocks for the all the good it seemed to be doing. She could barely registered individual Zerg creatures being hit before others trampled their injured comrade in their rush to reach the Terrans. It was like trying to hold back a tidal wave with buckets.

"Alex, you've done all you can, get the hell out of there, you hear me?"

The Commander's voice echoed in her ears, but she barely had time to register his words. All of her concentration was being spent on holding back the tide as her rifle pumped round after round into the creatures. But no matter how many she killed, more always replaced them. She was vaguely aware of the fact that there were likely more Zerg on the field than the Rangers had bullets.

She was snapped back to her senses as the first Zergling reached the lip of trench and launched itself toward her like a rabid beast. In an instant, her decade long training kicked in and Alex nimbly sidestepped the scything talons of the creature as it flew pass her. As the creature passed her, Alex focused her potent psionic powers through her suit's artificial muscle fibers and hit the creature's flank with a lightning fast snap kick. Her armored boot instantly caved in the creature's ribs and sent it crashing into the wall of the trench with a crunch of breaking chitin.

Before she had time to catch her breath, another Zergling threw itself at her, the claws on its back posed to impale her. Seeing no time to duck out of the way, Alex threw herself onto her back and watched as the creature sailed over her with shriek of rage. Bringing her weapon up, she let loose with burst of fire and was rewarded with a yelp of pain from the creature before it crashed into the ground and did not get up.

"Fall back!" Alex yelled down the trench as she pushed herself back onto her feet. Removing her only remaining magazine, she began to insert her five spare rounds into the almost depleted clip. Slapping the magazine back into her rifle with a satisfying click, she scowled as her HUD showed just how many rounds she had remaining. "Fall back to the Warp Gate!"

~Go friend, we will cover your retreat.~

Snapping her head around in surprise at not detecting the approach of the powerful telepath, Alex's eyes widened in surprise as a trio of majestic Protoss Templars appeared above the trench with their hands high in the air. The lead Templar, the same one who had spoken to her earlier, nodded down at her before joining his brothers in their psionic attack.

A painful pressure began to build at the back of Alex's mind and spent spikes of agony through her brain as static energy filled the air. Clutching her teeth in an effort to hold back the pain, Alex keyed her com-link.

"Red Squad, form up on my position immediately. We're falling back to the Warp Gate."

A depressingly small amount of acknowledgments followed after her order. Lifting her head over the trench again, Alex was awe struck by the sheer power of the Templars. A mighty vortex of psionic energy was decimating the Zerg horde. Blinding arcs of lightning instantly incinerated entire clusters of the alien beasts ever second. The air soon filled with the sickening stench of fried flesh and Alex fought the urge to gag despite the air filter in her helmet. The swarm's charge soon faltered as lightning strikes inflicted devastating loses to the hovering Zerg Overlords and entire broods soon fall to infighting as the controlling intelligence retreated from their simple minds.

~Make haste friend,~ the Templar telepathically warned her. She could feel the strain of the attack affecting the Protoss as their glowing eyes fluttered in concentration and their bodies shook with exhaustion. ~My brethren and I will not be able to maintain the storm for much longer.~

Putting away her gun once more, Alex nodded numbly before running toward the prone marine sergeant. Activating the armor's medical interface once more, Alex was pleased to see that the man was relatively stable. Closing the panel, she locked the armor down and, charging her suit with her psionic power, pulled on the handlebars behind the combat suit's shoulders. At first, the half-ton power armor refused to move from its resting place. Alex grunted in frustration and began to channel more power and effort in the task, until finally, with a scream of exertion, the cumbersome form finally moved.

After ten backbreaking minute of labor, she had managed to pull the injured soldier out of the forward trenches and onto the gassy plains of Aiur. She could see the once gleaming spires of the Protoss off in the distance. Massive pillars of smoke rose from across the settlement and the once smooth golden walls had taken on a rusting texture. The planet must have been beautiful once, before the Zerg came and ravaged everything they could reach. Now, most of the local wild life was extinct or worse and the local flora seemed diseased and withered as the Zerg biomass slowly infested the very land itself.

Releasing her iron grip on the bars, Alex unceremoniously collapsed to her knees in exhaustion as she waited for the rest of the squad to reach her. The corners of her vision had darkened and she could barely hear everything over the sound of her pounding heartbeat and heavy panting. She fought to remain conscious as her numbed senses detected the presence of her few remaining comrades rapidly approaching. The Ranger's numbers had been severely depleted after the disaster on Char. The group now numbered in the dozens when it had numbered in the hundreds less a month ago.

"Hey! You alright?" A voice yelled behind her and Alex was dimly aware of a set of massive armored gauntlets grasping one of her slender arms and effortlessly lifting her up to her feet. The movement made her head spin and she resisted the urge to vomit. "C'mon, I gotcha, we gotta get outta here."

"I-I'm fine," Alex whispered dazedly, as she waved the marine away from her and pointed toward the injured sergeant. "I just need to catch my breath, go help him instead."

Giving her a quick nod, the marine released his grip and ran over to aid his wounded superior. He was joined by two other marines, who proceed to each grab one of Baxter's arms and began to drag away back toward the settlement. Sighing in utter exhaustion, Alex managed to steady her trembling legs and jogged like a drunk to catch up with her few remaining comrades on this planet.

Suddenly, a pressure she had filtered out from her awareness suddenly intensified ten-fold, the shock of which nearly sent her to her knees again. Grimacing in pain, Alex looked behind her to see the mighty psionic storm dissipate. However, the three Protoss Templars made no attempt to retreat as the Zerg horde regrouped and once again advanced down the valley. Channeling her own psionic power, Alex projected her thoughts toward the distance Templars in confusion.

~What are you waiting for? Now is our chance to retreat back to main walls.~

At first, the Templars did not seem to receive her message and Alex began to worry that her powers were too taxed to continue functioning. However, the lead Templar soon turned to face her, and she immediately sensed his intentions.

~No, my young friend, my brethren and I are not abandoning our world. Aiur is our home and it is here that we will make our stand.~

~But you're throwing your life away for no good reason! The other Protoss are evacuating through the Warp Gate, there is no reason to remain.~

A flare of anger erupted from the tightly controlled mind of the Protoss that startled the Terran with its sheer force. For a moment, she thought she had done something wrong and the anger was directed at her. However, the Templar immediately wrestled his emotions and thoughts back under control and began to project an aura of calm that felt like cool water washing over her over taxed mind.

~We refuse to crawl to the Fallen Ones for help. It has been an honor to fight alongside your kind. A final word of caution, young one. Do not trust the Dark Ones, they are dishonorable savages who will not hesitate to betray you at the first opportunity.~

Before Alex could argue the point, the Templar had closed off his mind from her and returned his attention back toward the swarm. With a blinding burst of psionic power, the trio of Protoss disappeared in a massive explosion of energy. The psionic shockwave of the ritual reached the Terrans a split second later and sent the entire group flying away like leaves caught in a hurricane. Alex's back collided with the ruins of a Protoss temple with enough force to break every bone in a normal Terran's body. The back of her helmet slammed into the stone walls with enough force to crack it open.

The Shadowguard blacked out for a split second as her skull bounced off the back of her helmet. The perpetual bleeping of warnings going off on her HUD woke her to a world of pain. She could taste copper in her mouth and an intense ache at the back of her skull. Glancing at her display, she cursed silently as the damage reports flooded in. One of her ribs was cracked and her Moebius Reactor was damaged and stuck in a lengthy reboot cycle.

Slowly pushing herself to her feet with pained groan, Alex stumbled over to where her fellow Terrans had fallen. Fortunately, the heavier combat suit of the marines had taken the blunt of the damage and her comrades slowly rose to their feet. After checking everyone for injuries, Alex glanced back to the epicenter of the psionic explosion and froze in stunned astonishment.

An immolated crater of molten glass was all that was left of the spot where the Templars once stood. In the center of the crater, floating a meter from the ground, the Templar leader burned with the power of a star. Her helmet automatically attempted to darken her HUD, but the sheer intensity of tempest of energy surrounding the Templar burned brighter than even the sun. The psionic energy washed off the form like a raging torrent that threatened to drown out her mind.

~WE BURN WITH THE FURY OF THE KHALA. THE FIRSTBORN WILL NOT SUFFER THIS BLIGHT UPON OUR LAND ANY LONGER.~

The psionic message possessed none of the grace and regality of the Templar she had just communicated with. The refined mind of the Protoss had been replaced by a primal and animalistic hatred that sent shivers down Alex's spine. The Protoss Archon emitted a roar of psionic power before it began advancing to meet the Zerg onslaught. The telepathically attuned Zerg creatures cowered in fear as the mighty psionic entity sent explosive bursts of energy into their ranks.

Shockwaves of energy incinerated dozens of lesser creatures with every strike. Massive armored creatures towering over its lesser kin were instantly torn to shreds when attempted to rush the Archon. The sheer power of the Psionic Being was terrifying on a primal level and inspired a combination of awe and terror through the group of Terrans.

~I AM PRAETOR QUIXOS AND I WILL OBLITERATE EVERY ONE OF YOU.~

"Run…run!" Alex yelled toward the rest of the squad as the Archon tore through the Zerg lines like a wrathful god. While it appeared like the tide had turned in their favor, Alex could sense otherwise. The overwhelming power of the Archon was destabilizing every second. Already, the once coherent aura of power surrounding the Khalai warrior was beginning to fluctuate. The once focused power of the Archon was expanding outward rapidly at an uncontrolled rate and Alex did not want to be around it once it reaches critical levels.

The cumbersome hardsuits of the marines afforded them additional protection but as the group of Terrans fled from the cataclysmic battle behind them, Alex found that she was easily outpacing the marines, especially since two of soldiers had to carry their injured sergeant between them. Scowling in desperation as she sensed the predatory focus of the Zerg swarm catching up to them, Alex quickly keyed her comlink.

"Hyperion, this is Red Squad, we need immediate transport. The Zerg are completely overrunning the Northern defenses."

"Negative, Lieutenant, there's too many Zerg fliers in the area. If we send out a dropship, it'll get shot down almost immediately."

"Dammit," Alex snared as she slowed her pace to allow her to cover the backs of her teammates. The Zerg were swarming around the mighty Archon even as droves of them perish to its psionic power. However, the dozens of Zerg creatures the Protoss slayed with every strike seemed inconsequential in the face of the endless horde of creatures. "Understood," she replied through gritted teeth, "we're falling back to the settlement."

"Where's that damn dropship?" The marine providing covering fire for their disorganized retreat yelled as he fired blindly behind him while running. Alex tried not to think too hard over the fact that the burst of random fire almost immediately drew an inhuman yelp of pain. "I can feel these damn critters breathing down my neck!"

"It's not coming," Alex yelled back as she stole a glance behind them. She immediately regretted the decision as she saw at least hundreds of Zerglings bounding toward them much too fast. Unslinging her rifle, with all of twenty rounds remaining, she began firing accurate single shots back at the aliens. "Faster! Pick up the pace!"

This was very bad. The Zerg would overtake them in seconds at the rate they are moving. Alex desperately thought of some way they take evade the monsters. The walls of the settlement were far too distant on the horizon, taunting them with its promise of safety but always just out of reach. They could abandon Sergeant Baxter, Alex grimly contemplated, which allow them to move much faster.

However, she quickly abandoned that idea. Would it work? Possibly, but there was no guarantee that the marines could outrun the agile alien beasts even with their load gone. Could she abandon her teammates and save herself? Her cloak was off-line as her reactor recycled, but she was confident she could evade the Zerg on her own if she just left the marines behind as decoy.

The primal desperation and amorality of that last thought frightened her more than the aliens chasing them. Could she really condemn others to die in her place? Sure, she could mentally delude herself into thinking that they were as good as died anyway, but she would know that was just a cowardly excuse to save her own life.

Was her life worth more than that of the people around her? People she had sworn to protect and who trusted her with their lives? Would she abandon her principles at the first test of her oath? Could she live with herself if she chose to run after everything the Rangers had done?

Taking a deep breath, Alex had her answer.

"Keep running and don't look back," she calmly called to the rest of the squad. "I'll draw their attention."

Before the rest of the team had realized what happened, Alex psionic boosted her stamina and agility to superhuman levels and sprinted away from the settlement. Within seconds, the marines were a distant speck on the horizon. Remembering what that bastard Mengsk had told her about telepaths and the Zerg, she sent a burst of psionic energy toward the alien swarm. Just like the other telepaths in the Sons of Korhal, she had received training in the deployment of the Psi-Emitters. The power of her psionic beacon was nowhere near as potent as those amplified by the device, but it still instantly drew the attention of the Zerglings pursuing her comrades. She could sense the vile intelligence now guiding the Zerg turn its focus on her as its minions immediately abandoned pursuit of the four marines in favor of the agile Shadowguard.

As she ran further and further away from the sanctuary of the Protoss city, Alex began to think of her family on Umoja. At this hour, her parents were probably just returning home from work. She choked back a light sob as thoughts of never seeing her family again flooded her mind. It was two weeks until Disembarkation Day and she silently prayed to whatever deity governed this universe that they would not receive news about her until after the celebration.

They had been so proud of her when she was recruited into the service of the Protectorate. She clearly remembered the sense of fear for her safety that permeated their minds but also acceptance of her greater role than any she could have had otherwise. The last time she had contacted them through her superiors had been after the Fall of Tarsonis. She had reassured her parents and her younger brother and sister of her own safety but could not give them any information on her activities. It had broken their hearts but she had promised them she would return home soon.

Now it seemed like that promise was a distant memory. Assuming the Rangers survived this meat grinder and escaped back to Terran Space, the most her family would receive was the news of her death without any additional information. Regret swelled in her heart and she hesitantly keyed her comlink.

"Commander, this is Alex."

"I read you kid," the voice of their leader replied dimly over the echoing sound of gunfire.

"Can you promise me you will tell my family about our efforts?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Can you promise me, sir?"

A slight pause before the once confident tone of Raynor returned. Now, he sounded tired and worn out, instead of the determined leader the Rangers had followed from the orbits of Tarsonis to the blistering ashes of Char.

"Yea…yea I promise."


	3. Chapter 3

The Hyperion was one of the most beautiful vessels Alex had ever seen. The corridors were twice the size of those found in standard Behemoth-class Battlecruisers and were decorated like a pleasure yacht instead of a command ship. Soft red and gold colored carpets lined the metallic walkways and the recycled air carried the pleasant fragrance of spring flowers. Actual wooden frames and heavy cloth drapes covered the walls, giving the visitors the impression of being inside an extravagant manor instead of one of the deadliest warships in the Koprulu Sector.

As she walked along the spine of the vessel toward the Flag Officer's quarters, a sense of anticipation began to build up in her heart. Despite the Psi-Screen she wore at the moment, she could feel the energy and excitement of the crew fill the air around her. Stopping before a beautiful set of wooden double doors, Alex quickly straightened her uniform before knocking twice on the hard wood.

"Come in." A deeply cultured and silky voice called out in reply and Alex took a deep breath before forcing all expression from her face. Relatively sure that the man on the other side of the doors would not be able to extract any information from her facial expressions, Alex pushed open the door and stepped into the private chambers of Arcturus Mengsk.

The room resembled an high class hotel instead of the workplace of the leader of the largest anti-Confederate militia in the Sector. Soft classical music played in the background from a beautifully made antique phonograph. The back wall of the room was dominated by an enormous view screen of the void of space with large crimson and gold embroidery drapes on the sides. Priceless works of art lined the finely covered steel bulkheads, separated by the occasional wall sconces. An enormous crystal chandelier bathed the massive room in soft golden light

The man himself sat behind a large oak work desk that was surprisingly devoid of all things one would normally expect to find before someone like him. Mengsk was a giant of a man, much larger than Alex had expected, and towered over the slender Shadowguard in height and mass. Every feature was perfectly maintained to present the image of a noble warrior capable of leading men through anything. While his face remained neutral, his eyes spoke of the terrifying brilliance working behind his mask of nobility.

"Sir, Operative A6-010," Alex snapped a crisp salute as she stepped before the terrorist leader's desk. She silently noted how the men's desk seemed completely devoid of all personal and professional objects, and could discern no reason why he would sit behind it. No computer terminal, no stacks of paperwork, no photos or any object that might give insight into his personality. "I bring the good wishes of Councilor Pasteur."

"How is Ailin doing these days?" The man replied with a pleasant smile before rising from his seat and walking over to an ornate glass liquor cabinet. Entering a pass-code into the security interface, he pulled out a bottle of expensive looking liquor and two crystal goblets. "Would you like a drink, my dear?"

"No, thank you, sir," Alex replied automatically as Mengsk waved her into a leather cushioned chair in front of the large desk. The man's movements were precise and graceful, evidence of his military training. Alex noted that although the man before her no longer fought on the frontlines, his powerful and well maintained body was still readily apparent. "And I wouldn't presume to know the Councilor's business."

"Please, I insist," Mengsk stated politely, but with an menacing edge behind it, before pouring a measure of the liquor into a glass and holding out to her expectantly. Although it was against her better judgment, the Umojan eventually decided it was not worth antagonizing her new superior over, and took the offered glass of alcohol. The man smiled before pouring himself a glass. "Tell me, dear, what has Ailin been telling you about me?"

Alex hesitated for a split second, and that was all it took for Mengsk's smile to grow, but he, otherwise, remained silent. In truth, the Councilor had quite a bit to say about the leader of the Sons of Korhal. How Mengsk was an utterly morally bankrupt man he would not trust to tell him the time of day. Prestor's face had darkened at the mere mention of Arcturus Mengsk and had raged about how he was incredibly dangerous and not to be trusted in the slightest.

"He…told me you are utterly devoted to our mutual goal of bringing down the Confederacy."

At her diplomatic response, Mengsk chuckled lightly as he sipped his drink. Alex noticed that her own drink still sat cupped in her hand, and quickly raised it to her mouth for a quick sip. The thick aroma of the alcohol nearly made her gag, but she suppressed the reflex. It burned its way down her throat and left her feeling slightly light-headed. Meanwhile, Mengsk had moved to stand in front of the massive window and gazed out at the stars as though deep in thought.

"What is your name, my dear?"

That question was not unexpected but the abruptness of it surprised her. Quickly marshaling her senses to refocus, Alex gave the normal answer. "Alexandra, sir. My family name is classified."

"You keep it a secret in order to protect them." Mengsk stated as though the answer was obvious. "Because you fear what the Confederacy will do if they found what about your loved ones."

"Yes sir, that's correct," Alex whispered as she stared idly into her drink. One of her biggest fears was not for her own life, but those of her family. She tried not to think about what would happen if someone were to get ahold of that information and blackmail her with it.

"I understand," Mengsk replied as he continued to stare off into deep space. His voice suddenly took on a deep rooted sense of hatred and he all but spit out his next words. "The Confederacy is a threat to everyone until it is destroyed."

He finally turned around and walked back to his desk. Opening one of the drawers, he withdrew an old antique cigar box.

"The Confederacy doesn't care about anything except spreading its vile influence over this entire sector," Mengsk stated calmly as he withdrew a cigar from the box before placing it back into his desk. "People think that they will be safe if they don't provoke the Confederacy, but I know better."

Lighting the cigar with an ornate gold igniter, he began to pace about the room as Alex remained seated before his empty desk.

"While the Confederacy still exists, none of us are safe," Mengsk continued as he inhaled a mouthful of the fragrant smoke. Alex shifted awkwardly in her chair as Mengsk continued his rant. "While we bicker amongst ourselves, the Confederacy is becoming more and more powerful. Every second we waste fighting amongst ourselves is another second those degenerates have to ruin another life, another family, another planet."

"Sir, with all due respect," Alex retorted indignantly, "none of us have the military power to directly oppose the Confederacy."

"That's what people seem to believe," Megnsk replied calmly as he downed the rest of his liquor. "And it's what the Confederates want them to keep believing." The man smirked confidently as he poured himself another measure of alcohol, prompting Alex to awkwardly take another sip of her almost untouched glass. "Our goal isn't to tear down the Confederacy, it's to show the people that the Confederacy isn't invincible. We're going to show the entire sector that the Confederacy can be beaten."

"Do you really think guerrilla tactics will be enough to inspire the people into action?" Alex asked, dubiously. "The Confederacy's plan to paint you as a terrorist is working well and the recent bombing spree isn't helping your public image."

"Don't you worry about that, my dear," Mengsk smiled confidently and, Alex was surprised to find, reassuringly. Despite everything she had heard about the man, Alex was beginning to like him. She did not even need her telepathy to know his hatred of the Confederacy was real. After what the Confederacy did to his family and later his entire planet, he was probably its biggest enemy. "Some vital assets have recently fallen into my hands in the Sara System."

"Could you elaborate sir?" Alex asked, her interest peaked by the mention of the system name. She had seen the reports coming out of Chau and Mar Sara, but could not discern fact and fiction in that jumbled mess. "I heard both colonies were lost."

"Yes, and amongst the ashes of two dead worlds, the seeds of the Confederacy's destruction have been sown." Mengsk replied dramatically and Alex resisted the overwhelming urge to roll her eyes at the men's theatrics. "Tell me, my dear, do you keep up with UNN?"

"Not particularly, I don't exactly enjoy watching Confederate propaganda."

"One Michael D. Liberty has recently fallen afoul of Confederate politics and agreed to join our cause." Mengsk stated confidently as he took another drink, prompting Alex to do the same. "And when the time comes, he'll be the key to showing the entire sector just how vulnerable the Confederacy is."

"I had no idea the reporter was such a skilled soldier," Alex replied sarcastically. Liberty was known critic of the Confederate government and a relatively well-known face to most of its citizens. The only reason the man had not been executed yet was a combination of his public image and an exorbitant amount of censorship on his reports. "How would he help you defeat the Confederate military?"

"Very funny," Mengsk deadpanned with a slight smile at her bad attempt at humor, prompting her cheeks to heat up slightly in embarrassment. "Don't worry, Liberty will merely be the link with the masses we need, and changing circumstances in the Sara system may soon render the mighty Confederate military irrelevant."

"You're talking about the reports of hostile aliens?" Alex asked as her tone immediately became serious. The issue had been on the minds of most well-placed members of the Umojan government ever since the first reports filed out. Humanity's expansion into whatever space had always been shadowed by the disappointing thought of them being the only intelligent race in the galaxy. With each new planet colonized the hopes of finding an alien civilization grew smaller and smaller. The reports of not one, but two alien species had sent Umojan scientists into a frenzy of activity.

"Indeed, you see, the Confederacy is like a carefully constructed house of cards," Mengsk whispered as he once again turned to gaze into the now deadlier void of space. "Shake the table enough and the whole thing comes tumbling down."

Alex shook herself out of her recollections with a snare of hatred. She did not want her last thoughts to be of that snake Mengsk. Ever since the escape from Tarsonis, she had wondered if everything would have been better had she just leapt from her seat and broken the man's neck. A lot of people would have still been alive if she had. Sure, it probably would have ended with her death minutes later, but seeing as she was about to die any second now, the fear of death lost most of its potency.

The Zerg were literally clawing at the walls in their eagerness to get to her. So far, the smaller creatures had not managed to tear through the tough neo-steel alloy walls of the bunker. It was strange that they had not blown up the bunker with some of their artillery units yet. A single spore pod or acid glob would level the entire structure, but the Zerg were holding back.

They probably wanted to take her alive.

Cradling her legs up against her chest, Alex rested her chin on her knees as the growls of the Zerg surrounded her. The battered pistol lay in front of her and she stared at it blankly. She recalled with a mixture of pride and nausea the first time she used it to take a life. In fact, it was the first life she had ever taken, at the innocent age of fourteen. It was somewhat fitting that the gun's last kill would be her.

She remembered stalking through the slums of a rundown city, hiding in the shadows and moving through maintenance shafts. The target had been a Kel-Morian Overseer looking to incite a rebellion against the Protectorate. His last thoughts as the bullet ripped through his throat had been disappointment at not getting the yearly bonus from his guild. The mission had been relatively easy, since the enemy was just armed civilians and the target was one of the worst scumbag in the sector.

Unfortunately, some of her other missions were not so morally justifiable. Nineteen years after she was born, she had already claimed a kill-count higher than entire Marine Corp companies. Soldiers, spies, dissents, innocent bystanders, all had perished by her hands. She briefly wondered how the Rangers would feel about her if they found out even half the things she had done.

What would her family think of her?

How would her younger brother feel if she told him she had assassinated the young heir to a Confederate Old Family by seducing him and then convincing him to usurp his parents? How would her mother feel if she found out her daughter had sabotaged the shuttle of a Confederate officer, killing his entire extended family of twenty people after tricking him into the situation in the first place? Would they still be able to look her in the eyes and tell her they were proud of her for setting off a tactical nuke in a Kel-Morian vespene refinery?

For the first time since she could remember, Alex began to look back on her life, and it sickened her. She was not a good person. She was a killer. A government sanctioned hit-man. She did the dirty work the rest of her countrymen would call war crimes. At least the Confederate Ghosts could be somewhat excused due to their extensive brainwashing, but what about her?

It was rather depressing now that she had time to actually sit down and think about her life. What actually had she accomplished with her life? What could she do except kill? That was the only thing she was good at and all she was good for. While other children were learning science, she was learning how to rig an explosive from household chemicals. While they were learning math, she was learning about the effects of gravity, humidity and wind speed on bullet trajectory. While they were out dancing and singing, she was in a jungle infiltrating a Confederate communications outpost.

While other people lived productive lives, she hid in the shadows, killing them.

So was her act of sacrifice actually a selfless move or just the last desperate attempt of a murderer at redemption? Why did she join the Rangers and pretend she was some kind of hero? Was her imminent death just justice finally catching up to her?

The unexpected, but not unwelcome, surge of emotions brought both fear and a sense of relief. She had long thought the various acts of espionage she had undertaken would have killed her moral compass years ago. She had never really felt deep remorse for all the things she had done. The missions were all vital to the continued survival and freedom of her people. She was their shadowy protector, doing the terrible deeds necessary so they could continue to live in peace. It warmed her heart and brought a bitter smile to her lips to know that she was still capable of emotions like this.

So maybe she was about to die for all the terrible things she had done. Alex's smile widened as a realization struck.

She was fine with dying because she would die the way she lived, defending her friends, family, and comrades. She did not care how she would be remembered because she knew she had either saved or improved the lives of the people she cared about. She did not care about recognition or glory and she did not sacrifice herself to make people admire her.

Shoving her self-doubt and misery aside, Alex pushed herself to her feet and wiped away the tears that had marred her features. She was a Shadowguard of the Umojan Protectorate and if there was one thing she could confidently tell others she was good at, it was killing. She was a warrior and a survivor and she refused to go down without a fight.

So what if nobody was here to witness her last stand? Every Zerg she killed was another monster that would not threaten her people. If the Zerg wanted to capture her, they were going to have to piece her back together because she did not intend to even let them have a body to consume.

Running over to weapons rack attached to the back of the bunker, Alex keyed in her access codes into the security panel and stepped back as the locker unsealed with a hiss of shifting machinery. It was depressingly sparse, barely containing any ammo for her rifle. Grabbing everything of valve, she ran over to various bodies thrown around the circular room.

In the end, she was able to scavenge another two clips for her gauss rifle and four shots for its under barrel grenade launcher. There were several C-14 Impaler Gauss Rifles, but their unweidly size and recoil simply made them a liability for her without a hardsuit. In the end, she had sixty rounds for her rifle, four grenades, one shot left in her pistol and her trusty combat knife. The bunker was also equipped with scuttling charges built into the four main foundations of the building. Alex had thought about repurposing them into bombs but in the end, had decided it was better to blow the entire bunker when she was about to be overwhelmed. Let the Zerg get at her body, then bring the entire building on their heads.

Alex had barely loaded her rifle when the first hole appeared in the walls of the neosteel bunker. A rabid Zergling howled in bloodthirsty delight at the sight of her and it began to tear into walls with renewed vigor in its hurry to get to her. Activating the rails in her rifle, Alex calmly shouldered her weapon and fired a three round burst into her face of the Zergling.

The high velocity spikes easily ripped through the weak carapace of the small creature, and it instantly collapsed to the ground without a sound. Unfortunately, her hopes of the body plugging the hole were dashed as its comrades immediately turned upon their fallen kindred and began tearing it into blood chunks. Seconds after she had gunned down the first Zergling, another had already replaced.

Alex repeated the process over and over until her weapon clicked empty. The creatures seemed to sense the lack of incoming fire and renewed their attack with increased ferocity. The wild howls of the creatures were so loud it caused the entire bunker to resonate with its intensity. Alex activated her grenade launcher and sent a shredder fragmentation grenade through the breach and jumped behind the corpse of an unfortunate Ranger in CMC armor. A dull boom echoed through the hole along with the chorus of pained yelps from the Zerg.

Unfortunately, the blast barely bought her time to reload her weapons before the Zerg once again swarmed the breach. Alex shouldered her weapon calmly once more and resumed firing.

Twenty-one rounds.

Fifteen rounds.

Nine.

Six.

Three.

*Click*

With the last of her ammo spent, Alex sent another grenade into the breach before sprinting to the demolition control panel. She had to wait until the more Zerg entered her trap before she blew it. As she waited, she emptied her remaining grenades through two of the dozen holes that were appearing in the walls of her shelter.

Well, this was it, Alex thought as she dropped her rifle to the ground in satisfaction. She had given it her all, now the rest was up to humanity and their new ally. Upholstering her pistol, she fired the last round into the face of a Zergling struggling to fit through a hole it had made. The jagged metal had already torn massive fissures into its flesh, but the creature still focused its entire inhuman mind on reaching her. The low caliber round entered the creature's hate-filled eyes and made mesh made of what little brain it possessed.

With the last of her weapons spent, Alex hurled her empty handgun into the face of another Zergling, not really surprised when the attack failed to do little more than daze the creature for a split second. Unsheathing her combat knife, Alex waited patiently for the Zerg to reach her.

The bunker walls now resembled maggoty cheese, with Zerglings squirming through over two dozen breaches in the armor plating. There were now at least eight Zerglings snarling at her from across the building but, strangely enough, they did not advance. More Zerglings spilled into the bunker and formed a concave around her section of the walls, as though waiting to spring forth and devour her.

_Good, you stupid animals, keep piling in here_, Alex thought with a morbid sense of determination. The more Zerglings inside the bunker, the more she would kill when she sprung her trap.

Alex never found out exactly what happened next. Maybe the damage done to the bunker had caused serious damage to the fuses of the demolition charges or maybe a Zergling had somehow burrowed into the charge itself. All she knew was that one moment she was staring down a rapidly growing horde of Zerglings, and an instant later, her world dropped out from under her and all she knew was a confusing mixture of light, smoke and pain.


End file.
